In recent years, with the deepening of research on carbon nanotubes and nanomaterials, the broad applications of carbon nanotubes are constantly emerging. For example, due to the unique electromagnetic, optical, mechanical, and chemical properties of the carbon nanotubes, a large number of applications have been reported related to their applications in field emission electron sources, sensors, new optical materials, and soft ferromagnetic materials.
The field emission characteristics of the carbon nanotube have broad application prospects in fields such as field emission planar display devices, electric vacuum devices, and high-power microwave devices. Conventionally, a carbon nanotube wire is used as a field emitter, and the carbon nanotube wire is disposed on a surface of an electrode through a binder. The carbon nanotube wire can be easily pulled out during field emission, resulting in poor stability and short lifetime of the carbon nanotube field emitter. In addition, the carbon nanotubes in the carbon nanotube wire may have growth defects, resulting the carbon nanotube field emitter having poor stability and short lifetime.